JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate Mary Pertola denied Thursday that she knew of an attempt to put another candidate with the same name as a Republican incumbent on the Alaska ballot, as the Justice Department escalated its criminal investigation with a new grand jury subpoena.
“I just want to clear up a misunderstanding,” she said in a speech at a bar in downtown Juneau, Alaska’s capital. “I know nothing about the other candidates on the ballot other than me and the current candidate. That’s all I know. I’m not interested in deceiving voters.”
Pertola is running against Sen. Dan Sullivan. A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the subpoena seeking grand jury testimony or documents and record-keeping requirements were issued after The New York Times reported that Pertola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan Jr. as part of an alleged effort to confuse voters.
The race is considered key to control of the U.S. Senate. More subpoenas are expected, one of the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly. It’s unclear who the subpoenas were to be served and the number of subpoenas.
For months, the Justice Department has been investigating allegations that Dan J. Sullivan Jr. campaigned to steal votes from incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Potential targets of the investigation are unclear, but President Donald Trump earlier this week called for criminal prosecution of Pertola and his campaign.
watch: Republicans seize on controversy in Alaska’s high-profile Senate race
Attorney General Todd Branch said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he would not discuss any criminal investigation but accused Democrats of “cheating.”
“They’re trying to take votes away from the incumbent, not through elections, not by campaigning on issues, but by appointing someone with the same name,” Branch said.
Dan J. Sullivan has long denied that he is running at the behest of Democrats and has said he has no contact with Pertola’s campaign. “Zero, no, zero,” he said after announcing his candidacy in June.
The race is one of a handful of Senate races this year expected to decide control of the chamber. Trump previously directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit to block the certification of the Senate race if Democrat Mary Pertola defeated Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.
State prosecutors asked the court to rule on the Justice Department lawsuit by Monday, saying the case could “cast a pall on Alaska’s elections contrary to the public interest.”
Alaska’s Republican governor also ordered an investigation
Separately, Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into Pertola, saying the newspaper’s reporting “reveals disturbing new evidence of an organized effort to rig Alaska’s elections by recruiting candidates — including a candidate with the same name as a sitting U.S. senator — to intentionally confuse voters and mislead their votes.”
“The integrity of our elections is undermined by intentional deception of voters to vote for someone else,” Dunleavy added, noting that the report “substantially supports” the state’s Board of Elections’ earlier findings on the matter.
watch: Capehart and Ponnuru on Trump’s threat to block Alaska election results
Trump on Thursday expressed doubts that Pertola would enter the Senate even if he won the election. “Well, you’ll have to see what happens,” the president told reporters en route to a rally in South Carolina. “It’s hard to believe she would even be allowed to run.”
Later, during a rally for Republican Sen. Darrin Graham, Trump said he felt Pertola “should actually be taken off the ballot and prosecuted.”
Pertola dismissed the claims as “distraction”
Pertola addressed the controversy in a fundraising post on Thursday. “They can’t win with their record, so they’re trying to intimidate me into backing down,” she said, later adding: “This is just another distraction as they avoid taking on the skyrocketing cost of living we face with tariffs and perpetual war. That’s not going to work.”
In Juneau, Alaska, independent Carter Bancroft said he voted for Pertola on Thursday. “I’m pretty sure which candidates I want to vote for, and I want to vote for Marie Pertola,” he said.
But he said the latest claims troubled him. He worries they provide Trump and others with “ammunition” to attack Pertola or other Democratic candidates. “I think I’m troubled by the pranks on both sides, especially those that are intended to “confuse people or try to deceive people,” Bancroft said.
watch: How Alaska became a key battleground in Senate battle
John Delgado, a Republican-leaning independent, said he has “extreme enthusiasm” for Sen. Sullivan, especially in light of the recent allegations. He agreed that Pertola should drop out of the race.
What’s happening in Alaska is not unusual. Parties often support additional candidates on the ballot in an attempt to draw votes from their rivals. Legal experts say the federal government has no right to challenge the results if state courts allow it.
In the Ohio Senate race, Republicans have been working to support a socialist on the ballot who would steal votes from the Democratic candidate challenging Sen. Jon Husted.
On Thursday, Vice President Vance stopped short of joining Trump in calling for Pertola to be prosecuted, but said he supported an investigation into possible election fraud.
“I mean, she’s been pretending for months that she had nothing to do with the fact that they put a fraudster on the ballot who was clearly out to confuse Alaska voters,” Vance told reporters before heading to Texas to campaign. “It’s disgraceful that she’s trying to steal the Senate seat from Alaska voters.”
State Supreme Court approves another Sullivan vote
Earlier this year, top state elections officials ruled that Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher in the small fishing community of Petersburg, was ineligible to run in the primary, concluding that he submitted a statement of candidacy “with the intent to confuse or mislead and thereby impair the fairness or neutrality of the vote.”
The case went to the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled he was eligible to run. Alaska voters will see “Dan S. Sullivan” identified on the ballot as a “Registered Republican” and “Incumbent,” and “Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.” identified as a “Registered Republican” and “Incumbent.” There will be no partisanship.
Read more: Judge rules man with the same name as U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan eligible to run in Alaska primary
The New York Times reported that interviews, briefings and documents prepared for potential litigation showed that Pertola’s team aimed to lure candidates into the race in an effort to divert support for the Republican senator.
Asked about Wednesday’s reports, Trump told reporters, “I think they should be prosecuted.” He earlier posted on social media that “Pertola should face legal and political consequences for what she did.”
Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
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